The mail app will open all by its self. After checking mail and then minimizing the app, it will suddenly just pop open again. There is no new mail in the inbox when this happens.
iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS 10.14
For anyone who did not see my solution/workaround from a while back in this thread, i'll link to it here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250385204?answerId=251388086022#251388086022. It includes quite detailed instructions, but the basic idea is that two step authentication for gmail does not work properly in the Mail app. The workaround is to not use the built-in google preset when adding the account. Instead manually set it up (which is quite easy as well) with an "App password" set up in the google account. For me, this has worked for over two months without mail ever opening since.
When Reddit info worked for you was it recently, or before the settings the Reddit info is pointing to changed...? Just wondering if this might be related to some other changes at G-Suite that maybe happened at the same time as the settings changed...
All this started for me only when I updated to macOS Mojave here on my computer, which was not all that long ago...
There is something bumping into something, somewhere, but only for some of us, it seems... Anything that might help narrow it down...
That's one possibility but as others pointed out - not for everyone unfortunately. And also a workaround is not a solution. Apple - do your job! I hoped that maybe it's something to do with errors or caches created while ugrading to Mojave but once I set up my Gmail account on an entirely new Mac it was exactly the same.
What do you mean by “someone at Apple?” This is a widespread issue. Google search the title of this thread and you’ll see tons of others here and elsewhere, for quite awhile now. I am certain that the brainpower at Apple could isolate the problem if they tried, so I don’t believe whoever told you that. Shame on Apple for letting this go on, and they should be embarrassed for themselves and their customers.
It was a person I spoke with the apple support phone line. I agree that it would be nice if Apple already had a fix for this, but I was excited that at least someone at Apple admitted the problem existed. (The previous two people I had spoken with from apple support said they had never heard of this before.)
You don't have to believe them, but I'm not sure why they would lie to me about wanting me to give them diagnostic data from the moment that the mail error is occurring. (If it was an intentional misinformation campaign by apple, why did it take me three phone calls to apple support to finally get this answer for the first time?)
It seemed like a legitimate request and a reasonable way for them to help figure out why this might be happening. It's also something I'm actually capable of doing, running a terminal script. Whereas the previous person I had spoken with said they couldn't do anything for me if they weren't on the phone live with me as the error was occurring, which I had explained to them wasn't possible because it happened randomly when I didn't expect it. This terminal command on the other hand is something I can try even if I'm not on the phone with apple support just before it occurs.
You don't need to try this out if you don't want to. I was happy though to have received some sort of reasonable suggestion from apple, which it seems no one on this board was able to get yet. Hence I wanted to share the info. Ignore it if you'd prefer.
I’m sure we all appreciate your effort. But if they told you to just call back and talk to whoever happens to answer the general phone line, that sounds like the rep just swatting you away. By comparison, if you go to the Microsoft boards, if you report a serious enough issue someone from the actual product team will come on the board and ask you to post or message them, directly, the bug info. It sounds like you were given busy work by a customer service rep. If Apple gave a crap, or if they were even lifting a finger on this, they could easily replicate this widespread issue themselves.
No, the person I spoke with actually did give me their name, their phone number and extension, and email address. I get that this would be very useful to share with the whole board, but a part of me feels bad about doing that (I don't want to be the reason one apple tech gets inundated with snarky emails and phone messages). But the info they shared with me should still be useful for everyone -- you could save the terminal file and share it with someone else at apple support. I'm getting the impression though that you'd prefer apple just fix this on their own (maybe in the next MacOS update), and that your main purpose on this board to is to vent (at apple, at me), which his fine. Others on this board are looking for a solution, which no one seems to have shared yet (changing google calendar notifications hasn't worked for most people, nor has making sure the mail setting for auto-opening in split view is de-selected), so my post I guess is more meant for them.
Not venting at you. I said your strides are appreciated. I just don’t trust that a call center rep is going to be able to do anything even with the info. If someone told me it would “help” to call in and talk to some other random rep, and they agree to give me their personal contact info, I’d do it too. But if Apple doesn’t monitor these boards for widespread problems and fix them, I similarly don’t think the call center rep has the ability to help. I’m glad you’re trying though.
Thanks for sharing. Glad you're having some luck. I did this weeks ago and just double-checked to make sure, based on your screenshots. All my settings are same as yours. Mail continues to spontaneously open itself. I'm a regular Gmail user, not G-suite.
Thanks @chazz26FTD for taking the time to create this and post it here... I also did this weeks ago, have checked and all my settings are the same as your screenshots, and the issue continues unabated...
I'm not sure what the difference is between G-Suite and having regular gmail accounts, but I have a couple gmail accounts and use a lot of other things Google provides for free, including google cloud and on very rare occasion some of their other offerings, but also a lot of things relating to the building of websites that require other account setups, and it is all of it gathered together under my g-mail accounts, which re also linked up with each other at google, so I can quickly switch between the two of them...
It also occurred to me earlier today to wonder about the gmail app I've never used but is available for phones and mobile devices, so I installed it on my iPhone and examined the settings... I found that notifications was activated by default, and so I turned it totally off... I had my fingers crossed, but I am finding that the issue continues...
So you think that changing settings in their mobile app might help with our desktop problem? If so, I'd still want my notifications for the Gmail app (only using it because the native app on the iPhone doesn't support regular push notifications - a bit of a joke to be honest)... Have any of you experienced macOS Mail app opening itself but in the background as well? Because I noticed that sometimes when I close it with the red cross, it reappears after a while just not in the foreground. Really weird stuff going on here.
@Jac0l - No, more like I wondered before I installed the app if it might have an effect, but, as I said in my post , it did not fix it... And I agree all around, weird stuff with Apple Mail... For me as a website designer/developer I find Safari is no less so, in regards to being in the weird terrain...
I am having the same problem with the mail app opening. Doesn't Apple test these updates before sending them out? I know that Apple does not monitor these boards. How can we get through to them about this issue?
I have been experiencing this problem as well, I thought I was alone until I found this thread. I've wanted to THROW my mac air across the room when this happens. I actually have some online tests to take, and I'm afraid that if my mail pops up, it'll mess up my test.
No, google app password is used for some applications which do not support 2-step authentication. So I think you have to have already set up the 2-step authentication for your google account, then you can generate the app password. Another way I think may also work is turn off your 2-step authentication, and add your gmail normally using the mail portal but not the google mail portal. However, I still highly recommend to keep the 2-step authentication on, it is good for cyber security.
Hm, I tried adding it using the mail portal but it didn't work (said it couldn't confirm my username or password) and I thought it's because I don't have this application password enabled, which is due to the lack of 2-step authentication.
Mail App Opens Randomly Mojave 10.14.5
